


Therapizing the (former) therapist

by OAF_80



Category: General Hospital (TV 1963)
Genre: F/M, Nelexis - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:47:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25712299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OAF_80/pseuds/OAF_80
Summary: Neil goes to see Kevin for a much needed reality check about the future of his relationship with Alexis.
Relationships: Neil Byrne/Alexis Davis (General Hospital)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	Therapizing the (former) therapist

As Neil made his way through the hospital, he passed the nurses station on the 8th floor and made eye contact with a few of the hospital staff members he had met during his very short stint as a therapist on the General Hospital staff. He tried to offer a small smile and nod in acknowledgement of recognition, but as he passed he realized his expression was probably more of a grimace. Since removing his belongings from the office that was his only for few short weeks, this was his first time back at the hospital and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Was he embarrassed? Should he be? Perhaps. He wasn’t exactly fired, but having your medical license revoked and having to resign because of it was nearly the same thing. Just because he was the one to bring the issue to Monica first after hearing the board’s decision, didn’t make it any less humiliating. When he told her that he wouldn’t be able to continue practicing as a therapist on the GH staff after all, as the medical review board had reversed their earlier decision, he was pretty sure that news did not come as a surprise to the Chief of Staff. Word travels fast, especially juicy gossip about the hospital staff, and the scene that Julian had caused spread throughout the hospital rather quickly.

When Neil called Kevin’s office number that morning to ask his one-time colleague and friend if he could fit him in for a therapy session, Neil had briefly toyed with the idea of asking him to meet with him somewhere outside of the hospital to avoid the walk of shame. But once he had him on the phone and Kevin warmly offered his help and an ear to listen, Neil decided that he probably hadn’t been there long enough to really be noticed walking the halls. And other than two or three people that he recognized, he realized he was right.

Kevin greeted him warmly with a handshake and a kind smile when he entered his office. “Neil, it’s nice to see you, again. Come on in and have a seat.”

“Thank you for seeing me on such short notice,” Neil said as he pulled out the patient chair in Kevin’s office that was so similar to the one he occupied for such a short time. “I really appreciate it. As I’m sure you’re well aware, a lot has happened recently.” Neil cringed slightly at that understatement.

“I’ve may heard a few things. I was sorry to hear that we won’t be working together, after all.”

“Yeah, losing one’s medical license makes working as a therapist no longer an option.”

“Why don’t we start at the beginning? Or as close to it as you’d like. Why don’t you tell me what brings you here, today?”

Neil leaned forward and put his head in his hands and rubbed his forehead trying to clear his mind to prepare to spill his guts to the one person besides Alexis that might be able to help him sort out his feelings about the situation that has turned his life entirely upside down. He finally leaned back and sighed. He was stalling and he knew that Kevin would recognize the tactic. Finally, he looked up at Kevin and offered a sheepish grin in apology. “A couple of months ago, I was fully prepared to walk away from my career just to be with Alexis. Someone had filed a complaint. I don’t know who it was and it really doesn’t even matter. At that time, we were barely involved….but we wanted to be. Life got crazy, she got sick—did you hear about that? She landed in the hospital after being poisoned by her personal trainer.”

“I did hear about it. And the car accident where she almost died. That must have been very scary for both of you.”

“Very. But, it also really brought us together. We started to get very close when she was in the hospital, but then the holidays came up and I had plans with my family out of town, so we never had much time to really make any progress, and then I got that letter from the board about the review.”

Neil got up from the chair and paced around the small office, trying to compose his thoughts. “It completely blindsided me. I was so caught up with the situation with Alexis and how I felt about her, I had completely disregarded the two year rule about getting involved with a former patient and it never even occurred to me that it would be a problem. It was careless and I should have known better, but nothing about the doctor-patient relationship with Alexis was ever traditional or by the book.”

“How so?” Kevin asked.

“Well, for starters, we initially met at a bar—Charlie’s. She came up to the bar, all riled up and started ranting about her ex to me. We were total strangers, but there was a spark there, immediately. I had to cut our conversation short because I had a new patient coming in that had gotten scheduled at the last minute. Before I left, I asked her out.”

Kevin’s eyebrows raised at that admission. “No!”

“Oh, yeah,” Neil nodded. “She declined, though. So, I left and I went to the office and when my patient arrived, in walks Alexis. I couldn’t believe my luck. And before you get the wrong idea, I immediately offered her a referral to another therapist. She took it, she walked out the door and about 2 minutes later, she came back.”

“So, you ended up treating her, anyway?”

Neil finally sat back down, some of his nervous energy having been burned off by pacing the room. “I thought I could handle it. We had only just met and yes, I was attracted to her, but I’m also a professional. I thought I could turn that attraction off and we would be fine. And we were. I started treating her and we kept things completely professional for months. But, when I started to treat Kristina and saw the toll it was taking on her, I knew that those feelings were still there. Things started to get personal and eventually I told her I could no longer see her as her doctor.”

“And how did she take that?”

“Not well, initially, but she came around. We both realized that there were some definitely not-professional feelings there on both our parts and we had to stop seeing each other professionally. I think you know about this part, since I ran into her outside in the hallway the next morning,” Neil said as he gestured to the door.

“Right. I remember that day. I feel like I may have led you astray a little bit that day and I’m sorry. I didn’t realize the extent of the situation and I feel like I may have inadvertently encouraged you to pursue something with Alexis.”

“It’s okay. I knew the rules and I chose to ignore them; it’s not your fault. This whole situation is on me. I just wish I could go back to that day at the hearing. I should never have given Alexis an opportunity to cover for me. I should have stopped her. The board asked me if I had anything to add to the statement I had submitted and I said no. If I could go back and re-do anything it would be that moment. Everything else leading up to it…I wouldn’t change a thing. But not stopping Alexis before she committed perjury to protect me, that was my mistake.” Neil noticed Kevin’s furrowed brow and realized he skipped over a few pertinent details. “Sorry, I skipped a few steps there, didn’t I?”

“A few.” Kevin smiled gently and encouraged Neil to continue.

“Okay, so to sum it up briefly…drag bingo night wasn’t an accident, it was a date. And yes, we shared a kiss that night. She kissed me and I was a goner.” Neil smiled at the memory and continued on, “After the complaint was filed, Alexis didn’t want me to just give up, she wanted me to fight. She was afraid that I might grow to resent her if I gave up my career for her. So, we tried to stay away from each other and we were _mostly_ successful at that while we waited for the hearing. But…everything all went to hell the night before the hearing in New York. As luck would have it, we ended up at the same opera with tickets in a private box right next to each other. It was an amazing night. It was just about the most romantic accidental date we could have had and we ended up spending the night together.”

“Wow. That’s a hell of a coincidence.”

“The odds are impossible. I can’t even begin to do the math on it. As much as we tried, we just couldn’t stay away from each other. And then that night happened and…”

“So what happened at the hearing? Things seem to have gone your way, initially.” Kevin tried to stay objective, but in addition to being his patient at the moment, Neil was also his friend. They had known each other for years, professionally, but they’ve also had a friendly relationship over the years, running into each other at conferences and sharing the occasional drink. Kevin knew he had no intention of charging Neil for this session, since it was obvious that what he really needed today was a friend to listen.

“Well, that morning, I wanted to come clean. Confess my sins to the board and take my punishment, even if that meant I’d lose my medical license. Alexis still wanted to protect me. She insisted that she didn’t want to be the reason I lost my career. When I left her that morning, I was fully prepared to tell the truth, but the board asked for her testimony first and she lied. She said our relationship was strictly professional other than that one kiss at drag bingo and I ended up backing her story up. I felt like I didn’t have a choice since if I hadn’t, she would have been outed has having just committed perjury under oath.”

“I see. That put you in a tough position. Where does Julian fit into all of this? I heard about what happened here at the hospital that day.”

“Everyone did,” Neil said sheepishly. He shook his head as he chuckled at the situation. “I certainly made an impression as a new doctor on staff, huh?”

“Well….” Kevin shrugged. “These things happen….”

At that, Neil just laughed and shook his head. “No, they don’t. But I appreciate your attempt to make me feel better about the situation." He continued, “So, Britt Westbourne was coincidentally staying that the same hotel that night and she saw us together. Making out in the hallway. She and I had never met before meeting here at the hospital weeks later, but apparently she has some history with Alexis and recognized her. She mentioned it to Julian.”

“Oh, I see,” Kevin nodded. “And he felt the need to confront you about it and make a huge scene.”

“Exactly.”

“So, what now? Where do you and Alexis stand?”

“That’s the question, right there. I don’t know. She got disbarred for the perjury and I’ve lost my medical license. I never expected this to happen to her. I was fully prepared to deal with the consequences for _me_ , but I never intended for _her_ to get hurt in all of this. This is all my fault and I’m now responsible for her losing her career, too.”

“Wait, you two haven’t talked about this, yet?”

“Not really. It’s ridiculous, I know. Everything has been so crazy. The last time I saw her, we started to, but then she got a message about the bar association wanting to talk to her and then I had to leave to get to an appointment. We never got to finish the conversation. She called me later that day to tell me she was disbarred, but it was clear that she was too in shock to really talk about it. I’ve been trying to give her space since then. We’ve texted a bit, but we haven’t really talked about it, yet.”

“Well, how do you feel right now? How are you coping since losing your license? That’s a big change after a lengthy career to suddenly find you can no longer practice.”

Neil just shook his head and said, “I’m not really sure. It’s one thing to know that it’s a possibility and it’s an altogether different thing to have it actually happen. I’m still processing it. I’m more concerned about what this is doing to Alexis. She’s been through this before and I know that it is pretty much the last thing she ever expected to have to deal with, again. Being a lawyer is such a part of her identity that I fear she won’t be able to cope with this in any kind of healthy way.”

“You’re worried about her alcoholism?”

“Among other things, yes. I feel so responsible. I am responsible! She’d never be in this position if it weren’t for me crossing that line with her. I was her therapist! I knew better than to let my feelings for her get in the way. That drag bingo date was crossing a line and I knew it, but I still did it anyway. If I had never let that date happen, we may never have gotten to this point.”

“But it happened. You both made a decision to do that. And in New York, you both made a decision to sleep together and you also both made decisions at the hearing that led to the situation you are in today. You can blame yourself all you want, but _neither_ of you is at fault or to blame. You _both_ are. You’re both dealing with the consequences right now. You can’t change what happened—it happened. But, now you have an opportunity to decide how to move forward.”

Neil stayed silent and let that sink in for a moment. Kevin had a point. He couldn’t go back in time and change what had happened. 

Seeing that Neil was still processing, Kevin continued, “What do you want? If you stop worrying about how it happened and who’s to blame, and just focus on the future, what do you really want?”

“Her,” Neil said without hesitation. “It’s what I’ve always wanted.”

Kevin appreciated his candor and instinctive answer, “That wasn’t so hard, was it? What about Alexis? Do you know what she wants?”

“Well the last time we talked, it sounded like she was looking forward to us being able to see each other, openly, but that was before she learned about being disbarred. I’m not so sure if she still feels the same, now that she realizes what the lie is costing her.”

“She lied to protect you, right? That’s a pretty big thing to do, and with her being a lawyer, I’d like to think she knew the risk she was taking. It sounds like she really cares about you, to take that chance.”

“Maybe. But she may feel differently, now that she’s facing this new reality of being disbarred.”

“It’s a lot to handle. Especially on your own. I’ll bet she could really use some support right now, from someone that can understand what she’s going through,” Kevin not so subtly hinted as he looked at Neil expectantly.

Fortunately, Neil was smart enough to take the hint. “I know! I’ve been trying to give her space. I mean, I’ve just been basically licking my wounds right now, but nothing is helping. All I want is to be with her right now. It’s all I can think about.”

“Then I think you know what you need to do.”

Neil nodded. “I just hope it isn’t too late. I really made a mess of this.”

“At least you’re in good company. You’re both in the same situation. You both made mistakes, but ultimately, those mistakes were born out of a desire to be together, despite everything. You already risked it all and lost, maybe it’s time to go grab that win.”

Neil knew he was right and he knew there was no time like the present to go get his girl. He just hoped that she was still feeling the same and was ready to jump in and take the plunge with him. He knew that if they could make this work, losing his career didn’t matter. He would adjust and figure something else out. He wasn’t ready to retire, but he was looking for something new and exciting. A new relationship, a new life, a new love. With her by his side, nothing else mattered. Neil thanked Kevin for his advice, and left to go start the rest of his new life.


End file.
